The London Daily News

13 May, 2010 08:47 (GMT +00:00)

Spanish Grand Prix Report

Spanish Grand Prix Report - Stephen Burns

At a circuit renowned for processional races Red Bull continued their ownership of the pole position after Mark Webber wrenched the lead spot away from team mate Sebastian Vettel in the dying seconds of qualifying.

From the lights on race day, Webber covered the inside line into the first corner and was able to maintain his place at the head of the field. This was helped by the FIA clarification on the position of rear view mirrors, the last time Webber lead Vettel away the outboard mirrors left a large blind spot that Vettel exploited to steal first on the entry to the first corner. Webber also managed to thwart a dive up the inside from the McLaren of Hamilton. By the exit of the first corner Hamilton was third behind the Red Bulls of Webber and Vettel with Alonso, the home town hero, in the Ferrari leading Button in the second McLaren with Schumacher sixth.

The leading positions remained unchanged till the pit stops commenced on lap 15. Vettel, Alonso and Button all stopped on lap 17 and Hamilton a lap later. The pit lane exit came to Hamilton's aid as on his exit he had track position for the first turn and Vettel ran wide over the escape area and had to avoid the notorious speed bumps ceding the place to the McLaren. Buttons stop was less productive as a recalcitrant rear wheel nut led to Schumacher's Mercedes gaining a place over the reigning World Champion. Button set about trying to overtake the Mercedes but Schumacher's seven world championships meant he knew what exactly had to be done to keep the McLaren behind.

On lap twenty Webber led and was continuing to press home the advantage of a car that was clearly faster than all bar his team mates car. Hamilton was still second with Vettel trying to close from third. Alonso's Ferrari was next with the Spanish driver coping well with new “f-duct” which requires the driver to close a duct using his left hand. This may well come under scrutiny from the FIA as on board footage showed Alonso on the main straight with no hands on the wheel at 190 mph as he was closing the “f-duct” with his left hand while adjusting the brake balance with his right hand. Schumacher was fifth ahead of Button, Massa was a good distance behind.

Five laps later Massa was on Button's tail as trio came upon the Hispania Racing car of Karun Chandhok. The Indian rookie had spotted two of the cars and duly moved aside, Massa tried to take advantage of the gap but snagged his front wing on the rear of the Hispania. The resulting damage actually improved Massa's lap times by around half a second per lap. Chandhok's race was ended another five laps later as a misjudged overtake by the Torro Rosso of Jamie Alguersuari removed the front wing of the Indian's car. Alguersuari was given a drive through penalty for the collision.

The top seven place remained unchanged after the tyre stops and such was the gap from Alonso, in fourth, to Schumacher that the Ferrari teams were happy that they could pit Alonso for tyres should the need arise. Vettel continued to close on Hamilton as the tyres on the McLaren began to show signs of wear. On lap 55 however Vettel's hopes of passing the McLaren were dashed when he ran wide through the Spanish gravel. A trip to the pits for new tyres saw the German emerge in fourth but radio conversations revealed that the Red Bull was suffering from critical wear on the front brakes. Vettel was resigned to the fact that he would not finish on the podium when with two laps to the chequered flag Hamilton's front left tyre blew sending the McLaren into retirement in the barriers.

When the flag was waved Webber's Red Bull was victorious with Alonso second and Vettel an unexpected third. Schumacher's fourth showed the talent was still there despite recent poor performances by keeping Button at bay for fifty laps with Massa close behind in sixth. With less than a week till the next race in Monaco and the closeness of the points table several drivers are within the realms of the top of the championship.

Spanish Grand Prix Result.

   Pos   Driver               Team
1.   M. Webber           Red Bull
2.   F. Alonso           Ferrari
3.   S. Vettel           Red Bull
4.   M. Schumacher       Mercedes GP
5.   J. Button           McLaren
6.   F. Massa           Ferrari
7.   A. Sutil           Force India
8.   R. Kubica           Renault
9.   R. Barrichello           Williams
10.   J. Alguersuari           Torro Rosso

14.   L. Hamilton           McLaren

Word Championship Standings

Pos   Driver               Team                Points
1.   J. Button           McLaren              70
2.   F. Alonso           Ferrari               67
3.   S. Vettel           Red Bull                 60
4.   M. Webber           Red Bull           53
5.   N. Rosberg           Mercedes GP           50
6.   L. Hamilton           McLaren                 49
7.   F. Massa           Ferrari                      49
8.   R. Kubica           Renault                    44
9.   M. Schumacher       Mercedes GP       22
10.   A. Sutil           Force India                16

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